One hundred drawings by Kenyatta A.C. Hinkle of 100 missing African American women simultaneously startle and beguile. Their subject represents the tip of a statistical iceberg of almost unfathomable scope — thousands of black women disappear every year in the United States, whether through criminal activity or for other motives, but their names and faces most often remain obscure.

“It’s sublime,” Ms. Hinkle said, “64,000 missing African-American women. For all of those faces, there’s a family. There’s a whole set of circumstances. They have favorite colors. All of those things that they like to do.”

To evanesce means to disappear gradually, vanish or fade away, and Ms. Hinkle’s work is poignant, timely — and coincidental. In March, a social media campaign was started to raise awareness about missing young women of color in Washington. The hashtag, #MissingDCGirls, started trending, helped by celebrities like Ludacris and Viola Davis. [...]

In Ms. Hinkle’s eyes, it was a major theft of identity. “My mother always taught me that if I feel an injustice or an abuse of authority, to never be afraid to speak up about it,” she said. “She really instilled in me this powerful self-possession.”